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Navier USN Autonomous Ship World Champions

The Njord Challenge 2024 took place at Havet Arena in Trondheim, gathering seven teams and their Autonomous Surface Vehicles for an international competition. Navier USN from the University of South-Eastern Norway emerged as this year’s champions, securing the title of World Champions in Autonomous Ships.  

  • Text:Njål Frilseth

    Photo:Navier USN / Njord Challenge / Lars Bugge Aarset, Ocean Autonomy Cluster

After two weeks of intense focus—refining systems, coding, and teamwork—Navier USN celebrated their hard-earned victory. Their vessel, Triton, showcased an advanced modular design, highlighting their progress in maritime technology. The team transitioned from a catamaran to a trimaran, implementing new software, hardware, organizational improvements, and a refined social media strategy. 

Navier USN members invested significant time and effort to overcome the challenges of the Njord Challenge. At times, the competition was extremely difficult and frustrating, with small margins making the difference between success and failure—something they experienced firsthand.

Navier USN claimed first place, with Técnico Solar Boat from Portugal finishing second and AGH Solar Boat Team from Poland securing third. 

“Njord Challenge is an excellent arena to witness the ingenuity of the up-and-coming engineering students while they compete in navigation, collision avoidance and automatic docking. It was inspiring to watch the talent and the different approaches to overcome difficulties.  Njord Challenge gives KONGSBERG an arena to meet up with new talent, and to assess the state of maturity with regards to marine autonomy,” says Arne Johan Hestnes, Director Digital Technology, Kongsberg Discovery.

KONGSBERG, a proud sponsor of both Navier USN and Vortex NTNU, congratulates all teams on their contributions and celebrates Navier USN’s success in the challenge. Employees from Kongsberg Discovery, one of KONGSBERG's four business areas, also serve as mentors for master's and bachelor's projects at various universities across Norway. 

Students from Navier USN collaborated with Arne Hestnes and Kongsberg Discovery on sensor fusion of cameras and lidar for their autonomous surface vehicle. The Njord Challenge provided them with an opportunity to test their project in real-world scenarios and benchmark their achievements against other innovative solutions in the field.

"It is always motivating and exciting to speak with students involved in technical projects. I believe they should be proud of what they have accomplished this year, and we look forward to seeing what they achieve in the future," says Karoline Halvorsen, Project Manager, Kongsberg Discovery, about the student sponsorship.

Navier USN explores challenges related to autonomous vehicles. KONGSBERG's business area Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace sponsors Navier USN with financial resources under a two-year agreement.

In addition, the company offers professional and technical support when needed. The development and recruitment of young talent is an essential part of the company's strategy.

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The competition, held from August 15th to 17th at Nyhavna, featured seven teams from three continents and five countries: Norway, Portugal, Poland, Scotland, Canada, Turkey and India. The final standings were as follows: Navier USN from Norway in first place, followed by Técnico Solar Boat from Portugal, AGH Solar Boat Team from Poland, StrathVoyager from Scotland, Iceberg ASV from Canada, Aritra Oceana from India, and Vortex NTNU from Norway.

This second edition of the Njord Challenge demonstrated a high level of commitment and expertise from all teams, with each making significant contributions to the competition. Njord Challenge is a competition focused on the development of autonomous ship systems, challenging teams worldwide to solve complex problems in maritime autonomy. These vessels operate without human intervention, and the competition utilizes the fjord of Trondheim as a full-scale testing ground for autonomous vessels.

Navier USN was founded in 2022 by a group of ambitious engineering students, who set out to apply theoretical knowledge to practical applications by developing autonomous vehicles. Starting with an autonomous boat as their initial project, the group began to attract students from diverse academic backgrounds. Today, the team includes students studying engineering and economics.

Navier USN develops autonomous vehicles for national and international competitions. Backed by a supporting organisation, the students are encouraged to explore new possibilities and develop new ideas. As a team, they believe that learning is a continuous process that involves trial and error, and they use scientific models and theories to solve real-world engineering problems. Throughout their journey, they embrace unexpected challenges and learn from past failures, leading them to generate new ideas, and practical solutions.

As Njord Challenge 2024 concludes, it reaffirms the strong future of autonomous maritime technology. The competition provides them with hands-on experience using state-of-the-art methods in sea autonomy. The participants of Njord Challenge are not only competing—they are actively shaping the future of the maritime industry.

Navier USN are always looking for new talent to elevate Navier to the next level!
If you feel like taking on a challenge, don't hesitate to apply!

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